Stock futures flat after jobless data

ECB holds steady on policy; China announces ‘mini stimulus’

AnoraMahmudova

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Stock futures, which gave up early gains after the European Central Bank left key policy unchanged, traded nearly flat after the jobless claims rose by slightly more than expected.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s press conference is at the center of attention at the moment, after the ECB, as expected, left interest rates unchanged. Follow the live blog here.

Investors are waiting for a report on the health of the services sector later this morning.

Futures for the S&P 500 index
US:SPM4
were less than a point higher at 1,883.10, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
US:DJM4
ticked up 7 points to 16,494. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index
US:NDM4
slipped 2.50 points to 3,655.75

The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits in the last week of March rose more than expected to mark the highest level in a month, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That data comes a day ahead of Friday’s bigger nonfarm-payrolls data, though weekly jobless claims are no guaranteed indicator.

Separately, the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in February to mark a five-month high, mainly because the nation exported less petroleum, commercial jets and industrial supplies, according to government data released Thursday.

The Institute for Supply Management will release its services index for March at 10 a.m. Eastern. The index expanded at a sharply slower pace in February, dropping to 51.6% from 54% in January.

Investors may also be reflecting on comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams. He told Reuters in an interview published late Wednesday that the central bank should start raising rates by the second half of 2015. However, he said it would do this only gradually, keeping “relatively low levels of interest rates for quite some time.”

The S&P 500
SPX, +0.01%
finished at a record on Wednesday, though gains were moderate — a rise of 5.38 points, or 0.3%, to 1,890.90. The Dow industrials
US:DJM4
closed up 40.39 points, or 0.2%, 16,573.

Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, predicted in a CNBC interview on Thursday that the S&P 500 is just 9 points away from a trigger point — 1,900 — that will see it drop to 1,330, a 30% plunge. He said equities are overdue for a correction, which will happen due to lack of earnings growth, though he also said that pullback would happen later in the year.

Shares of GOOGL
GOOGL, +0.34%
begin trading after a 2-for-1 split in Google shares. One set of shares, called Class A, will trade under a new ticker symbol, “GOOGL.” The other, Class C, will be listed under the company’s historic ticker, “GOOG.”
GOOG, +0.42%

Perry Ellis International Inc.
PERY, +2.46%swung to a loss on write-downs as sales fell 16%, as expected. In February, the apparel maker cut its full-year outlook, citing bad weather and weaker consumer spending. The company is forecast to earn 3 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Plug Power Inc.
PLUG, +0.00%
rose nearly 5% in premarket after the company said it bought fuel-cell-technology company ReliOn Inc. for $4 million in stock.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan upgraded Monsanto Co.
MON, -0.23%
to overweight from neutral on Thursday, citing the possibility that activist investors could get involved with the agricultural firm. The investment bank also raised its target share price on the company to $125 from $115. Shares rose 0.8% in premarket.

In other markets, the Nikkei AverageNIK, -0.33%
closed up 0.8%, and the Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, +0.06%
fell 0.7%. China announced pro-growth measures, which analysts dubbed ‘the mini stimulus” , but markets fell back after a fresh move by China’s central bank to drain liquidity. European stocks were mostly flat.

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